Shown above is one of the study areas where the bus/walking tour occurred. The communities are Clarksburg and Greenway Villages of Clarksburg, Maryland. From left to right 1961, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Approximately scale 1 inch=1 mile with north located at the top. Image Source: Montgomery County GIS, Maryland.

Clarksburg Integrated Ecological Study Workshop Hightlight — Success!

Figure 1. This study is located in Montgomery County, Maryland. Shown above, outlined in red, are the study sites. Courtesy of Richard Gee.

On Friday, December 14, 2007, Dr. Hogan, USGS, co-sponsored the Clarksburg Integrated Ecological Study Workshop with Keith Van Ness, Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Environmental Protection. The purpose of this workshop was to review the integrated studies being done in Clarksburg, MD, with a focus on increasing research collaboration and planning the direction of future research efforts.

Clarksburg, Maryland, is a Special Protection Area (SPA) (fig 1); a designation that recognizes the high quality stream systems in the area require increased protection from the impacts of ongoing development activities. State of the art stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being used to address this need.

The USGS is interested in understanding theability of BMPs to mitigate altered water quality and hydrology in developed landscapes, and in the communication of this information to other local and regional scale sites.

At the workshop, presentations were given in the morning to provide an overview of ongoing ecological studies in the area, and a bus and walking tour was given in the afternoon to view the sediment control and stormwater management BMPs being implemented as part of the development activities in this SPA (fig. 2).

In addition to the scientists from Montgomery County, the Environmental Protection Agency, Virginia Tech University, University of Maryland College Park, Environmental Systems Analysis, and the U.S. Geological Survey, the workshop was also attended by Washington Post reporter Miranda Spivack, and Dale Tibbitts, Chief of Staff for Councilmember for Marc Elrich.

Figure 3. Grass swales are used to collect stormwater runoff and direct it along the stormwater management treatment train. These swales may allow filtration of pollutants by the grass and infiltration of stormwater runoff into the soil. Dec 14, 2007, Clarksburg, MD.

Figure 4. Silt fences are used to help control the high levels of sediment that erode from developing areas. If uncontrolled, this sediment washes into area streams during rain storms and causes severe environmental degradation. This photo shows a super silt fence; the woven black filter cloth is reinforced with chain link fencing to help promote sediment retention and erosion control without collapse or 'blow-out' as may be experienced with a standard silt fence. Dec 14, 2007, Clarksburg, MD.

Figure 7. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) are used in treatment trains in Clarksburg, MD. This photo shows part of a treatment train series, a sand filer (on the right) and an adjacent detention basis (on the left). These are still being used for sediment and erosion control during development of the area that drains to these facilities, but will be converted to stormwater management after development is completed. May 2006, Clarskburg, MD.